Russia

4th September 2013

3:16 PM — Today Amnesty International and To Russia with Love Denmark held a meeting with the Russian Embassy in Denmark and delivered more than 50,000 Danish signatures in protest against the new homophobic law in Russia.

2:59 PM — In a follow up to his letter warning Vladimir Putin that anti-gay "propaganda" laws in Russia may not be enough, anti-gay activist Scott Lively has released a bizarre tirade on his blog praising Putin as an "unlikely hero" and invoking "the battle we waged together against Nazism".

12:59 PM — Foreign Secretary William Hague has spoken out against anti-gay laws in Russia to say that Britain's foreign policy must have "a conscience", and that it is in the nature of Britain to "stand up for human rights overseas."

12:25 PM — Gay rights activist and Russian pride organiser Nikolai Alekseyev has officially requested a meeting with Vladimir Putin after the President claimed he was willing to speak with members of the LGBT community in a recent interview.

10:27 AM — Vladimir Putin, who in June signed a law banning 'gay propaganda' in Russia, has sought to reassure concerns about athletes who display rainbow flags during the 2014 Winter Olympics, urging that there is no discrimination against gay people in his country.

3rd September 2013

7:00 PM — A protest against the treatment of LGBT people in Russia is currently underway in London near the official residence of the Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street. Here are a selection of the latest photographs.

6:44 PM — Paul Canning looks critically at media coverage of the LGBT situation in Russia, highlighting other areas around the globe where hate crimes and violence have also soared, yet where media coverage is still minimal.

1:33 PM — Prime Minster David Cameron is to raise concerns over Russia's anti-gay laws introduced in June, when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at this week's G20 meeting in St Petersburg.

12:42 PM — The parents of PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen have performed an impromptu gay rights protest in the Russian city of St Petersburg, the birthplace of the country's recently passed anti-gay laws. Here he explains what they did.

4:48 PM — Scott Lively, an anti-gay activist who previously supported the Ugandan 'kill the gays' bill, wrote an open latter to President Vladimir Putin this month telling him more can be done with Russia's notorious anti-gay laws.

1:42 PM — 24-year-old Dmitry Isakov may become the first gay rights activist to be convicted under Russia's controversial "gay propanda" laws, after he was attacked and arrested by his own parents at a solo campaign in July.

12:57 PM — Activists in Russia say the controversial anti-gay "propaganda" laws passed in June have led to an increase in homophobic violence, with those responsible for the attacks no longer fearing legal reprisals.

1st September 2013

3:00 PM — The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has expressed a desire to set up a show in Russia, and when asked, said he had no knowledge of anti-gay legislation introduced in June.

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